The Alexandria Times-Tribune; The Elwood Call-Leader and The Tipton County Tribune Health Care Report Edition; Wednesday, May 6, 2015 PAGE 7

Alexandria Mayor, JackWoods, and the City ofAlexandria hosted its fifthannual Great Strides Walk onSunday, May 3 to raise fund-ing and awareness of Cysticfibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is aninherited chronic disease thataffects the lungs and diges-tive system of about 30,000children and adults in theUnited States (70,000 world-wide). A defective gene andits protein product cause thebody to produce unusuallythick, sticky mucus that: clogsthe lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections;and obstructs the pancreasand stops natural enzymesfrom helping the body breakdown and absorb food.

In the 1950s, few childrenwith cystic fibrosis lived toattend elementary school.Today, advances in researchand medical treatments havefurther enhanced and ex-tended life for children andadults with CF. Many peoplewith the disease can nowexpect to live into their 30s,40s and beyond.

People with CF can have avariety of symptoms, includ-ing:

• very salty-tasting skin;• persistent coughing, at

times with phlegm;

• frequent lung infections;• wheezing or shortness of

breath;• poor growth/weight gain in

spite of a good appetite; and• frequent greasy, bulky

stools or difficulty in bowelmovements.

Alexandria native, MadisonLeer, granddaughter ofWoods, is all too familiar withmany of the symptoms listedabove and living every daywith Cystic Fibrosis.

Every three monthsMadison sees doctors atRiley Children's Hospital inIndianapolis. During thosevisits she undergoes func-tioning test, blood draws andexaminations.

Currently, Madison takes20 pills a day and has to do atleast 30 minutes of a VESTtreatment. Many of the pillshelp with digestion of food;and the VEST treatment liter-ally shakes her chest tobreak up any mucus build upwhile delivering three med-ications into her system.

In a day where many chil-dren spend their idle timeplaying video games andinvolved in non-physicalactivities, Madison under-stands the importance for herto be very active. She enjoysplaying tennis, soccer, riding

her bike, swimming, anddoing cartwheels, havingdone 102 cartwheels at onetime. These activities helpkeep her lungs clear.Digestion has hindered herweight gain over the years.Before meals she has to takefour pills to help with thedigestion process due to thelimitations of her pancreas.

Prior to the walk Sundayafternoon, Indianapolis CFFoundation DevelopmentDirector, Joanna Whitakerspoke to supporters. Shegave encouraging updateson advances in medicationssoon to be submitted to theFDA for approval.

Woods thanked the eightteams participating made upof approximately 150 people.Whitaker and Woods thank-ed local supporters LindseyCuneo State Farm, KleencoMaintenance and Construct-ion, and Community Hospitalfor their continued support ofthe event prior to Woodsleading the walkers in awarming up to the HokeyPokey.

The goal for Alexandria's2015 Great Strides Walk was$20,000. Excluding the cal-culation of additional onlinedonations, the event Sundayraised $16,565.88 towardsthat goal.

Fifth annual Great Strides Walk

Alexandria Mayor, Jack Woods, thanks and wel-comes supporters to the fifth annual Great StridesWalk in Alexandria. (Photo: Jenny Corbett)

Great Strides Committee Member for 2015, DarcyVanErman and Indiana CF Foundation DevelopmentDirector, Joanna Whitaker, register walkers for thefifth annual Great Strides Walk in Alexandria.

(Photo: Jenny Corbett)

By: DR. FRED ABELES Imagine suffering chronic

pain, say, in the form ofheadaches or migraines.

Happily, you've found asolution to the problem. Ithas been several months oflosing focus, sleep and gen-eral interest in the things youused to like. You went to adoctor; he told you an NTIdevice, which addressesjowl clenching during sleep,will offer immediate relief. Ormaybe your doctor gave youa pain-relief prescription foryour headaches.

"As doctors, we like tohave answers for ourpatient's problems, but mis-diagnosis is one of ourbiggest problems in thiscountry when it comes tochronic pain," says Dr. FredAbeles, author of the book"Break Away: The NewMethod for Treating ChronicHeadaches, Migraines andTMJ Without Medication"(www.FredAbeles.com).

"We're the 'microwave'generation; we like our prob-lems to be solved immedi-ately. Our medical profes-sion has responded and isalways geared for quickfixes. In reality, treating onlythe symptoms, and not theroot cause, can worsen yourproblem."

For one, too many of usignore the basics of goodhealth, Abeles says.

"A huge volume of healthproblems would be eliminat-ed if only people learnedmore about nutrition, modi-fied their diets and got regu-lar exercise each week," hesays. "Cardio three times aweek and some strengthtraining – along with a rea-sonably healthy diet – wouldhelp millions tremendously."

There are many doctorsyou may see to help withyour headache pain, hesays, such as ENTs, den-

tists, neurologists, chiroprac-tors, temporomandibularjoint dysfunction (TMJ) spe-cialists and many more. Askquestions. If a dentist sug-gests realigning your jaw, forexample, you'll want tomake sure a thorough phys-iological work-up and diag-nosis has been completedfirst. Be discerning;informed.

"Most doctors really wantto help, but sometimesthey're wrong," he says."You have to be your ownbest health advocate."

Abeles offers what he callshis The H.E.A.L. Formula™.

* HELP yourself – takecontrol of your outcome.Don't accept chronic pain asa life sentence and stop tak-ing pills to mask symptoms.When you improve yourhealth, the lives of thosearound you improve also.There's more love, happi-ness and fun for everyone.

* EVERYTHING is con-nected. The teeth. Thejoints. The tendons. The liga-ments. The jaw. The head.The neck. The muscles.They all have to work togeth-er in harmony to not producepain.

* ALIGN the jaw. Align thebite. When everything isaligned, the muscles arehappy. And happy musclesdo not create pain.

* LEARN about and utilizethe new methods for suc-cessfully treating chronicheadaches, migraines andTMJ without medication.

"The best time to addressyour chronic pain and what'sbehind it is the first time youexperience it," Abeles says."But if you've endured manymonths or years of pain –perhaps masking it with pre-scription drugs – then thesecond best time to uncoverthe cause is right now."

4 ways to gainperspective on yourchronic headaches

Dr. Fred Abeles is known as one of the most sought afterTMJ experts in the United States, famous for getting resultswhere others failed. He is the Clinical Instructor and RegionalDirector for the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced DentalStudies, one of the most prestigious post-graduate teachingcenters in the world. He has been featured on NBC andCBS, consults with leading dental manufacturers, been onthe cover of the profession's biggest magazines and instruct-ed dentists throughout the United States and Canada onstate-of-the-art techniques for treating headaches and tem-poromandibular joint dysfunction.

St. VincentRegional CancerSupport Group

St. Vincent AndersonRegional Hospital CancerCenter is offering a generalcancer support group forindividuals with cancer, can-cer survivors and their sup-

port persons. The groupmeets on the secondMonday of the month at 6p.m. at the St. VincentAnderson Regional HospitalCancer Center, 2020Meridian St., Suite 100.

Sister Sarah Schmitt,CSC, BCC, a chaplain withSt. Vincent Anderson

Regional Center for SpiritualCare, will be the facilitator.

For more, information call646-8459.

MS Self HelpGroup

The Anderson/MadisonCounty Multiple Sclerosis

Self Help Group meets onthe third Thursday of eachmonth at the Birthing CenterClassroom, on the secondfloor at St. Vincent AndersonRegional Hospital, 2015Jackson St. The meetingbegins at 7 p.m.

For more information, call646-8423.